And another night of Z? has yielded a few more pages. *huggles her poor
abused wrist* I need to get my computer fixed (
To my reviewers:
Moonblossom- I come from a small town so there's lots of material here for
stupidity. ;) Have too many ideas for what's going to happen in the
future. That's why I've been dragging the beginning out a little.
Jason- Corporation is going to be explained soon, most likely my next
update. Was going to use dark angel, but I just didn't like how it sounded
and feathered wings normally look really bad as a tattoo. As for the
mistakes, I don't proof read too much any more, I end up hating what I
wrote, hitting the delete button and starting over (
Kard- thanks
Bunny- Thanks
Druid- I'll try to make this one good then
I've also noticed that the fanfic site hates me and changes things when it
up loads them. where's my Italics and the . . . I'm so fond of.
And I still don't own Kenshin. damnedable scientists need to work harder.
~Chandra
Touched
Kenshin looked up from the stove, amber eyes settling upon the door. Some one was standing outside, the muted ki of a warrior have permeated his morning task. Before the visitor could knock, Kenshin opened the door, amber eyes holding a careful violence.
Aoshi nodded, a folder held in his hand, noticing that Kenshin's face was free of its usual mask. "A touch edgy this morning? Would it be that you've finally taken my advice?" He asked, indicating Kenshin's lack of cosmetics. This earned him a dark look and Kenshin walking away from the still open door. "You need to date more, or even at all."
Aoshi's words, though emotionless were not meant cruelly and Kenshin realized that. The argument was an old one; Aoshi thought Kenshin needed balance and Kenshin thought Aoshi should shut up, not that he ever did.
"I don't see you dating. Perhaps a little interaction with a woman would do you some good, Ice Man."
"I have moved beyond such things." Aoshi stated as though it was completely obvious, and Kenshin was an idiot to suggest other wise. He closed the door behind him, and unceremoniously dropped the folder on Kenshin's small kitchen table. "The information you wanted." He said, raising an eyebrow at the column of black smoke emitting from Kenshin's stove. "Speaking of projects. . ."
Kenshin glanced at the forgotten food, his taking on the expression of a shocked cat. "Shit!" he hissed, rushing to extinguish the now charcoaled concoction. With a sigh of irritation he tossed the smoking pan in the general direction of the sink and turned to the refrigerator to start over. The neon light mocked him, revealing only a desolate landscape and something that seemed to be moving of it's own accord. "Damn it." Kenshin slammed the door shut and picked up his cell phone to call the café across the street. Kenshin's temper was usually a controlled violence, but this mornings experience in pyrotechnics served to remind him how little he had to offer any woman, let alone her. God, what was he thinking, girls like her didn't go for people like him. She was just a child; well not physically his brain reminded him before she shook his head and the thought away.
Through out the ordeal Aoshi simply watched his friend as though Kenshin were an example of everything thing he had risen above. With a sigh he sat down, flipping open the folder.
"Perhaps you should start smoking again," Aoshi began slowly, "Either that or introduce me to the girl in your bedroom." Aoshi smile at the look of shock that spread over the pale man's face then tilted his head towards Kaoru's purse, which remained on the floor by the couch.
Kenshin shook his head and sighed sitting down across from Aoshi, "Another day. She's been through enough and needs to sleep." Tiredly he told him the events that had lead up to her staying the night with him.
"Well that makes things a little more interesting." Aoshi said after Kenshin finished. He was the leader of a local crime syndicate and very little of what happened in the city escaped his knowledge, so it was an easy task to find out about the woman. But with each step he took something didn't fit, it was as if he knew there was a missing piece but had no proof that that piece had ever existed. Putting the thought on hold, Aoshi turned to his friend.
Kenshin flipped through the file, the first part of it was general information. Where she was born, her elementary school, nothing that provided any real useful information. Out of impulse he picked up a page with her picture paper clipped to it and scanned the information. Name: Kaoru Kamiya D.O.B: 5/12/84 Occupation: High School student, teaches kendo at the family dojo. He skipped a few lines, eyes settling on the information about her parents.
Parents married in 1980, four years later her mother died in childbirth. Father raised her until he was shot in a robbery attempt at the family dojo on August 1, 1998. Custody was awarded to her aunt, Tae Sekihara shortly afterwards.
"Was her father's shooter ever caught?" Kenshin said rubbing his temples and looking at Aoshi.
"No, the police had very few leads." Aoshi paused reaching into his jacket, "The man was either very good, or it was a cover up." He handed Kenshin another folder, this one thick with papers.
Kenshin opened the folder, setting it down to read the letter that greeted him.
Ms. Kamiya, I await your acceptance of our offer for you property. I have also come by the information that you are behind on your taxes, and that there are several leans against its value. My offer of $50,000 and the assumption of all debts related to the property is more than fair. You have until April 30, 2002 to agree or my company will be forced to push for a sheriff's sale. Sincerely Enshi Mizutani
"She has two weeks left to accept the offer." Aoshi watched his friend carefully. "This is also not the first time she has been attacked. Last week she was mugged, and before than the dojo was broken into."
"But why would they want her property so badly?" Kenshin's voice was edged, slipping into the violence that had become his sanity for the past four years.
"There's an out line in there of their intent, plans for a new corporate building. They're also under investigation for embezzlement, tax evasion, importing illegal goods, the list continues. As for what the authorities haven't found out yet, well it should provide some interesting reading material for your sleepless nights."
A knock at the door interrupted them, both men looking up. Simultaneously the rose and walked to the door, Aoshi flipping the fold shut and leaving it on the table.
"Keep the files, I'll see what else I can find out."
Kenshin nodded to his friend, opening the door. "Thank you."
"Oh! Good Morning Kenshin. I didn't know you lived here. So, how did you like school yesterday. . ." A familiar green-eyed girl babbled incessantly until Aoshi stepped past Kenshin to leave.
Aoshi raised a brown at Kenshin, "School?" The word held the most emotion he had expressed today, shock.
Kenshin visibly flinched as the cheery face of Kaoru's friend Misao greeted him. "Hello Misao." Her said, forcing his best smile to his lips. Suddenly he felt almost naked in her presence, the vinyl pants he wore and the black mesh sweater adding little comfort to the fact that his face was bare. Almost nervously his painted nails picked at the lacing that ran the full way up the sides of his vinyl pants.
"I'm Misao Makimachi, I go to school with Kenshin." Misao said, recovering quickly from the original shock of Aoshi's presence. He was tall, well to Misao most people were tall, with a presence that made him feel distant from her. His short black hair framed light blue eyes and a narrow face.
Aoshi gave her a half smile, "Aoshi Shinomori," his voice was smooth, hinting of winter winds and inner calm. "You work at the café? Perhaps I will see you there." Those words behind his equivalent of a goodbye as he made a mental note to stop at the small café more often.
Misao nodded as the man brushed past her, her skin highly away of the feel as his arm brushed against hers.
"Um. . .Misao?" Kenshin waved his hand in front of her eyes, "He's gone now."
"What. . .oh. . .sorry." She said shrugging sheepishly, and once again impulsiveness got the better of her common sense. "You two aren't. . .well you know. . .a couple, are you?"
"No, I'm straight." Kenshin smiled darkly as he paid her for the food, "I could show you if you want." It was more of payback than an offer, but quick reddening of her face and the way her hands nervously folded and refolded the bills before turning and walking down the hall in silence. Silence, he would have never thought such a girl was capable of that.
Touched
Kenshin looked up from the stove, amber eyes settling upon the door. Some one was standing outside, the muted ki of a warrior have permeated his morning task. Before the visitor could knock, Kenshin opened the door, amber eyes holding a careful violence.
Aoshi nodded, a folder held in his hand, noticing that Kenshin's face was free of its usual mask. "A touch edgy this morning? Would it be that you've finally taken my advice?" He asked, indicating Kenshin's lack of cosmetics. This earned him a dark look and Kenshin walking away from the still open door. "You need to date more, or even at all."
Aoshi's words, though emotionless were not meant cruelly and Kenshin realized that. The argument was an old one; Aoshi thought Kenshin needed balance and Kenshin thought Aoshi should shut up, not that he ever did.
"I don't see you dating. Perhaps a little interaction with a woman would do you some good, Ice Man."
"I have moved beyond such things." Aoshi stated as though it was completely obvious, and Kenshin was an idiot to suggest other wise. He closed the door behind him, and unceremoniously dropped the folder on Kenshin's small kitchen table. "The information you wanted." He said, raising an eyebrow at the column of black smoke emitting from Kenshin's stove. "Speaking of projects. . ."
Kenshin glanced at the forgotten food, his taking on the expression of a shocked cat. "Shit!" he hissed, rushing to extinguish the now charcoaled concoction. With a sigh of irritation he tossed the smoking pan in the general direction of the sink and turned to the refrigerator to start over. The neon light mocked him, revealing only a desolate landscape and something that seemed to be moving of it's own accord. "Damn it." Kenshin slammed the door shut and picked up his cell phone to call the café across the street. Kenshin's temper was usually a controlled violence, but this mornings experience in pyrotechnics served to remind him how little he had to offer any woman, let alone her. God, what was he thinking, girls like her didn't go for people like him. She was just a child; well not physically his brain reminded him before she shook his head and the thought away.
Through out the ordeal Aoshi simply watched his friend as though Kenshin were an example of everything thing he had risen above. With a sigh he sat down, flipping open the folder.
"Perhaps you should start smoking again," Aoshi began slowly, "Either that or introduce me to the girl in your bedroom." Aoshi smile at the look of shock that spread over the pale man's face then tilted his head towards Kaoru's purse, which remained on the floor by the couch.
Kenshin shook his head and sighed sitting down across from Aoshi, "Another day. She's been through enough and needs to sleep." Tiredly he told him the events that had lead up to her staying the night with him.
"Well that makes things a little more interesting." Aoshi said after Kenshin finished. He was the leader of a local crime syndicate and very little of what happened in the city escaped his knowledge, so it was an easy task to find out about the woman. But with each step he took something didn't fit, it was as if he knew there was a missing piece but had no proof that that piece had ever existed. Putting the thought on hold, Aoshi turned to his friend.
Kenshin flipped through the file, the first part of it was general information. Where she was born, her elementary school, nothing that provided any real useful information. Out of impulse he picked up a page with her picture paper clipped to it and scanned the information. Name: Kaoru Kamiya D.O.B: 5/12/84 Occupation: High School student, teaches kendo at the family dojo. He skipped a few lines, eyes settling on the information about her parents.
Parents married in 1980, four years later her mother died in childbirth. Father raised her until he was shot in a robbery attempt at the family dojo on August 1, 1998. Custody was awarded to her aunt, Tae Sekihara shortly afterwards.
"Was her father's shooter ever caught?" Kenshin said rubbing his temples and looking at Aoshi.
"No, the police had very few leads." Aoshi paused reaching into his jacket, "The man was either very good, or it was a cover up." He handed Kenshin another folder, this one thick with papers.
Kenshin opened the folder, setting it down to read the letter that greeted him.
Ms. Kamiya, I await your acceptance of our offer for you property. I have also come by the information that you are behind on your taxes, and that there are several leans against its value. My offer of $50,000 and the assumption of all debts related to the property is more than fair. You have until April 30, 2002 to agree or my company will be forced to push for a sheriff's sale. Sincerely Enshi Mizutani
"She has two weeks left to accept the offer." Aoshi watched his friend carefully. "This is also not the first time she has been attacked. Last week she was mugged, and before than the dojo was broken into."
"But why would they want her property so badly?" Kenshin's voice was edged, slipping into the violence that had become his sanity for the past four years.
"There's an out line in there of their intent, plans for a new corporate building. They're also under investigation for embezzlement, tax evasion, importing illegal goods, the list continues. As for what the authorities haven't found out yet, well it should provide some interesting reading material for your sleepless nights."
A knock at the door interrupted them, both men looking up. Simultaneously the rose and walked to the door, Aoshi flipping the fold shut and leaving it on the table.
"Keep the files, I'll see what else I can find out."
Kenshin nodded to his friend, opening the door. "Thank you."
"Oh! Good Morning Kenshin. I didn't know you lived here. So, how did you like school yesterday. . ." A familiar green-eyed girl babbled incessantly until Aoshi stepped past Kenshin to leave.
Aoshi raised a brown at Kenshin, "School?" The word held the most emotion he had expressed today, shock.
Kenshin visibly flinched as the cheery face of Kaoru's friend Misao greeted him. "Hello Misao." Her said, forcing his best smile to his lips. Suddenly he felt almost naked in her presence, the vinyl pants he wore and the black mesh sweater adding little comfort to the fact that his face was bare. Almost nervously his painted nails picked at the lacing that ran the full way up the sides of his vinyl pants.
"I'm Misao Makimachi, I go to school with Kenshin." Misao said, recovering quickly from the original shock of Aoshi's presence. He was tall, well to Misao most people were tall, with a presence that made him feel distant from her. His short black hair framed light blue eyes and a narrow face.
Aoshi gave her a half smile, "Aoshi Shinomori," his voice was smooth, hinting of winter winds and inner calm. "You work at the café? Perhaps I will see you there." Those words behind his equivalent of a goodbye as he made a mental note to stop at the small café more often.
Misao nodded as the man brushed past her, her skin highly away of the feel as his arm brushed against hers.
"Um. . .Misao?" Kenshin waved his hand in front of her eyes, "He's gone now."
"What. . .oh. . .sorry." She said shrugging sheepishly, and once again impulsiveness got the better of her common sense. "You two aren't. . .well you know. . .a couple, are you?"
"No, I'm straight." Kenshin smiled darkly as he paid her for the food, "I could show you if you want." It was more of payback than an offer, but quick reddening of her face and the way her hands nervously folded and refolded the bills before turning and walking down the hall in silence. Silence, he would have never thought such a girl was capable of that.